Derby County have today reached an agreement with Liverpool for the signing of Andre Wisdom for an undisclosed fee.
The signing has not officially been completed yet as the 24-year-old still has to pass a medical before he joins up with The Championship side. He is expected to do rgar before the end of the month, though only once he has returned from holiday.
An impressive pedigree
Gary Rowett stated that he was looking to bring another defender to the club during this transfer window following the signing of Curtis Davies from Hull City and he now appears to have done so.
Wisdom will arrive at Pride Park with Premier League pedigree having made appearances for Liverpool, West Bromwich Albion and Norwich City in the top flight. This is valuable experience which has, without doubt, improved him as a player significantly.
This season has not gone as the English defender would have wanted. He was once again loaned out, but this time abroad, to Red Bull Salzburg in Austria. It was not the most successful loan spell as he was only able to make 22 appearances for the club during his time there.
He has also represented England at Under 16, 17, 19 and 21 level throughout his career but has not received a call-up to the first team. He will now be looking to get back into the Premier League whilst helping Derby to do the same.
A welcome return
Derby supporters will be pleased to here of Wisdom's arrival after he had a successful loan spell at the club in the 2013/14 season. This was one of the Rams' most successful seasons of recent times as Steve McClaren's side just missed out on promotion to the Premier League in the Play-Off Final to Queens Park Rangers at Wembley.
Wisdom made 34 appearances for the Rams that season and was a very influential player as he put in a string of very impressive performances.
The fee being reported is said to be around £2 million but this could rise to more than £4 million in the future depending on a range of factors. In today's market, that is not bad business and could prove to be an astute signing for the Rams if they are to challenge for promotion this season.